Floatable record-instrument lock



June 24, 1930. w. J. STAPLETON FLOATABLE RECORD INSTRUMENT LOCK Filed Jan. 21, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 45 :14 25 J f. ///T T \q Porhpu \ar RegJon LOG- BOOK June 1930- w. J. STAPLETON 1,767,192

' FLOATABLE RECORD INSTRUMENT LOCK Filed Jan. 21, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 milz'zm Sign/6Z0];

Patented June 24, T930 f WILLIAM'J'. STAPLETON, OF MINNEAPQLIS, MINNESOTA I i LQAT BLE RECORD-INSTRUMENT Loan Application filed January 21, 1929. Seria1"No. 333,977..

,My invention provides an efficient device, when closed, will form awater-t-ight joint whereby the various instruments, used on' with the casing and for that purpose. packed; Vessels to indicate time,. speed, j direction, joints, not shown, may be employed. To location, list of ship, and the like,,may ;be lock the cover closed; itis shown as provided 5; secured as a permanent record incase of with ahasp'9 for 'co-operation with ajstaple 5 accident which threatens to or does result '10 on the casing and through which staple in the sinkingor abandonment of fthe vesa padlock 11 may beapplied to lock thesel,fand generally stated,- the inventionron cover closed. This cover, however, as will sists of the novel devices, combinations of hereinafter appear, will be closed onlyflin 10, devices and arrangement of 'parts herein-g case of anaecident thatresults Iin ultimateeo after described and-defined inthe claims; abandonment ofthe vessel. v l Itis a known fact that vessels frequently Just belowlits 'uppermost portion,the casare lost at sea under conditionswhere, forj ing 6 is; providedwith an instrument board 1 the purpose of insurance and the ship-own 12 that carries a .pl urality ofinstruments l5; ersliability for the loss of life or propersuch as achronometer or clock .13," 'com- 5 ty, it is-of utmost importance thatproof pass 151, a speedindicator "l5, a lo ngit ude beproduced as to all of the important eon- ,andlatitudeindicator 16, and a list instruditions or facts relating to the accident mentjlZ, which latter at all times indicates, It is customary for vessels ,to carry a' in degrees, the list 'or lateral tilt of the;

: chronometer or clock, a compass, a speed in-, vessel. Theface sofathese instruments are i dicator, a longitude and latitude indicator, all exposed above the" instrument-board, but 'andalso an instrument which will indicate, their bottoms depend through hei'board; in degress, the list or lateral tilt of the and, for the purposes of this case, it maybe vessel. I assumed that thesaid bottoms of theseveral 2 The invention maybe carried out in var-i instruments are flexible" or depressible so ous different ways and I have in theaccom thatlwhen pressed upward, the movable panying drawings; illustrated one scheme for parts of the respective instruments will be accomplishing the same, i v stoppedand held in the exact positions that Referring to the drawings wherein like they occupy at the of depression which 3 characters indicate like parts throughout; 'ls produced by a lock'mechanism presently the several views. h J i; V .to be described." 3 Fig. 1 is a plan 'view of the complete. in} The numeral 18 indicates aflrectangular. strument with the cover thereof opened up; frame mounted for verticalmovements by v Fig. 2 is a section taken on the 1 ine,2 2 means V of depending rods 19 that work 35- of Fig, 1; v throughsguide brackets 20' secured on the Fig. 3'isa section taken on the samelinebottom of" the casing. theparticular aras Fig. 2 but showing the cover of the rangement Illustrated, this frame '18 has casing l d; I a p I p g 7 threeloek bars 18*, 18 and 18. When V Fig. 4 is a section taken approximatelyon the {frame18 is raised to its limit, lock 40' the line H of Fig.. 1, but showingthe bar 18 will-press the bottoms of the instrucover of the casing closed; and I 1 V Inentsl6 and 17 upwardand lock said inr Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section taken on struments; the lock bar 18? will press upthe line 55 of- Fig k, ward the bottom of instrument 15 andjlock The numeral tesa floatable casing the same and thelock bar 18 willpress up of rectangular formmade of wood orother ward the'bottoms of instruments 13 and 14 material and having suchwood displacing andlo'ck said last two noted instruments. capacity that it will float with all'of the The cover or lid' 7 will be closed only in instruments therein applied. This casing is case of an, accident such as above indicated, providedwith a normally open cover con; but 111634113 is' provided whereby closing. of 5 nected thereto byv a; hinge: This cover, this cover or lid will raisethe frame 18 and lock pawl 28'.

look the several instruments as above stated. To accomplish the locking action just noted, parallel levers 21 are intermediately pivoted to bearing brackets 22 on the bottom of the casing 6. The free ends of the long arms of thelevers 21 engage lugs 23 on the central portions of the side bars'of the frame 18 while the short ends of said levers 21 are, by slot and pin connections 24, connected to the lower ends of a pair of depressible plungers 25 that are mounted'to slide vertically through the instrument board 12 and through guides 26 on the inner side of the casing 6. Normally the frame18 will besin itslower portion and the upper ends of the plungers 25 will project above the topof the casing as shown in Fig. 2, but when the cover 7'is closed it will depress plungers 25 and raise the frame 18 causing all of the instruments to be locked in a manner previously described.

To provide means for positively securing and locking the lock frame 18 in its raised instrument locking position even after the cover 7 has been opened, there isiprovided a self-acting pawland ratchetdevice comprising a ratchet wheel 27 and a spr1ng-pressed The ratchet wheel 2? is secured on a short shaft 29 journaled in bearing brackets 30 on the bottom of the casing and the pawl 28 is pivoted to a pro ection of the bracket 30. Shaft 29 alsocarries a spur gear 31 that meshes with a vertical movable rack bar 32- arranged to slide in a guide 33 secured on thebottom" of "the casing,"; the

upper end of the rack 32 being attached'to the central port-ion of the lock bar18 so that when frame 18 is raised, shaft 29 will be rotated and the pawl and ratchet devicewill lock frame 18 in its" raisedoperative or instrument-locking position independently of the cover 7. i i

The casing 6 may be normally set on the" .deck 34 or other suitable support and nor-j m-ally will be locked to said support by suitable means such as a pair of spring pressed latches 35' mounted on the *deck'or support 34 and normally engageable with lugs 36 on the sides'of the casing 6. The casing maybe locked to the deck or support as'long" as the cover 7 is in an open position or, in other words, has not been closed for the purpose of locking the several instruments. The cover 7 i shown as provided witha pair of latch-re-- leasing arms 37 which, when the cover is closed upon. the casing, will engage the beveled upper ends of the latches 35 and force the same into releasing positions, as shown in Fig; 4. To lock the latches 37 inthe re leasing positions so that they will not reengage with the lugs 36 before the floating casing has had a chance to float clear of the deck or support 34,1 have shown dogs 38 pivoted to the deck or support 54 and enand released from the deck or support, it

willbe free to float away if the vessel should sink. If the instrument is not normally carried where it will be free to float away, the

person who closesthe casing may, of course,

throw the casing'with its instruments over-' board or place the same where it will be free to float when the vessel does sink. A floating object such as the casting with its closed instruments and the records therein contained, will be quite certainly picked up sooner or later and will then afford positive evidence as to all important conditions that existed at the time of the sinking of the vessel. Obviously the device may be found useful in connection with aeroplanes,'dirigi'bles, and the like. e What I claim is: 7

1. In a device of the kind described, a floatable casing having a displaceable cover, a plurality of indicating instruments ap pliedin said casing, normally inactive lock-1 ing means operative to look all of said indicating instruments to show conditions existing at the time of locki'ng and means whereby closing of the cover of said casing will render said lock operative.

.2. A device of the kind described comprising a floatable casing, a plurality of indicating instruments applied .to said casing,

means operative at will to lock the several instruments, and thereby retain the record of the'conditions existing at the time of locking, means normally locking said casing to a relatively fixed support, and means whereby said casing will be released from said support when the said instruments are locked. l e

3., The structure defined in claim 2 in further combination with a, support for said casing, latches on said support and engage able with said casing to secure the samewhen the cover of said casing is open,' and devices carried by the cover" of said casing operative on said latches to retract the same and release the casing from said support when said cover is closed and'the instru-- ments in said casing are locked.

4. A device of the ki'nd'described comprising a floatable casing, a plurality of independently-driven timed recording instruments applied to said casing, means operat ve at willto lockthe several independentlydriven instruments against further movement to thereby retain recordsof the conditions existing at the time of locking thereof, and means for releasing said casing and permitting the same to float away from a vessel by which it is carried. 7

5. A device of the kind described compris 71 ing a floatable casing, a plurality of indi- I eating instruments applied to said casing,

and means operative at will to lock the several instruments and thereby retain the rec-- 0rd of the conditions existing at the time of;

locking, in furthercombinationwith asupv port for said casing, latcheson said support engageable with said casing to normally retain the same in position, and means opera tive on said latches to release said caslng 7 from said support when the lnstruments v therein contained are locked.

In testimony whereof I afiix my si nature. V

' WILLIAM J. sTAPLifioN. 

